Book notes changes in Michigan rural town

Cindy Hull, retired anthropology professor, wrote a book about the economic and cultural changes in the rural community where she lived.

The result, “Chippewa Lake: A Community in Search of an Identity,” was published by Michigan State Press in 2012.

Formal research for the book began in 2004, but Hull had lived in Chippewa Lake with her family since 1982. She said she compiled a lot of the research based on her family’s lifestyle, including raising children in the community.

“I was born and raised in Grand Rapids and living in a rural, farming community was a cultural experience to me,” said Hull. “I saw the same patterns in Chippewa Lake that I had found in my research of the Yucatec Maya people.

“In both villages, people were struggling as agriculture was giving way to wage labor.”

Hull said that the book could be used in anthropology courses or rural sociology courses. Although she retired at the end of the fall 2012 semester, Hull said she plans to continue writing.

“My interests in writing have moved in different directions,” she said. “I am hoping to write fiction, but to continue my connections with my discipline through conferences and perhaps special speaking events.”